Earth's Mightiest Hero: Paragon
Paradigm City is in a league of its own when it comes to meta-human activity. Heroes, villains, jack-booted thugs, and hopeful champions for good flock to Paradigm City annually to make a name for themselves for nowhere else on Earth can any city offer the hopes, dreams, and aspirations that Paradigm City does. Even with all of the famous heroes and villains that call Paradigm City home one name stands all above the rest. It is the name that causes up-and-coming heroes to look to the skies hopefully. It is the name that causes even the most terrifying villains to creep back into their black pits in the hopes of avoiding detection. That name is Paragon. Background Light-years from Earth is the distant world Malva, a planet of six moons that orbits a red sun. Long ago, the society of Malva shaped itself over Millennia to develop sciences, technologies, and medicines that have no earthly equivalent save, perhaps, those things of Olympus. Malva's success was mostly thanks to the Logicals. To the Logicals, everything is harmonious. The universe, they say, is ordered by mathematics; algorithms and formula create a perfect balance between order and chaos. To a Logical there are no accidents. There is no luck, there is no coincidence. Everything that is meant to be is. Personal choices and ethics do not dictate destiny or outcome; rather, everything is already ordained because of ratiocination. On the other hand are the Emotionals. The Emotionals believe that the universe is in a constant state of flux, a skin drawn tight over a drum that waits to be beaten. Accidents are caused by lack of foresight. Personal choices, ethics, and morals are a matter of direct thought and acting on that thought, even if the act is the result of impulse. Emotionals say that destiny comes by following one's emotions and surrendering to the bliss of consequence. The Logicals and the Emotionals have been at war for centuries. War to a Malvan is not expressed through violence or catastrophe. War is verbal, an exchange of thoughts and ideas. He whom has a thought based on careful planning and organization (to a Logical) is the victor. He whom has an original, creative idea that comes from the heart and convinces others of personal truth (to an Emotional) scores the winning shot. Into the battlefield of the political arena came a man of great renown, great respect, and an unshakable moral foundation. His name was Lexinder Todd and where he spoke thousands listened. Lexinder Todd was not a politician to be shuffled to one side and paid no attention to as hundred before him had been. He was more than just a mouthpiece, he was a visionary. His designs, his careful considerations, and his well-thought out and tested theories ushered Malva into its golden age. Sickness, the gulf between rich and poor, famine, and pestilence all vanished under Senator Todd's administration. To the shock of all Lexinder Todd, when offered the greatest Logical Achievement of becoming the Prime Administrator of Malva, politely refused. His goal was not power or authority but peace and harmony for all; a unified Malva. But there was another Todd in the august family and he wanted power. More than power, he wanted control. Thane Todd was born an Emotional of the strongest convictions. He, too, entered the political arena and where he went countless Emotionals flocked to his banner. Malva was at war yet again but this time it went deeper than just business as usual. This time, the war centered on the two brothers. For each new medicine Lexinder developed, Thane developed a new disease to counter it. For every grand architectural design Lexinder drafted the followers of General Todd, as they called him, tore a building down brick by brick. Despite Lexinder's passionate pleas for unification Thane ignored them, his eyes and heart firmly affixed on the throne of the Prime Administer. Because the brothers would not agree Malva began a rapid decline. When hundreds of innocents began dying a sorrowful Lexinder came to the only logical conclusion: he requested the General arrested on charges of malfeasance. Malfeasance was the most dire charge the government could level on a single individual. Thane Todd showed no remorse when the charges were read. In a public hearing with countless thousands in attendance the Prime Administer listed the charges and demanded an accounting but Thane remained silent and unmoved. When the Prime Administer finally ordered Thane publicly executed riots erupted all over the nation between the Emotional supporters of Thane and the Logical followers of Lexinder. Malva finally remembered bloodshed and violence that had not existed in centuries. The soil of Malva soaked with Malvan blood and it seemed as though nothing could stop it. But Thane did stop the violence by asking a public appeal. He spoke of a tradition not thought of for a millennia: the Firewing Proclomation. Emotionals believed that a man of the truest convictions could walk into the Judgement Fires. Let the fires decide, Thane said. Eloquently and gently he spoke of the old myth of the Firewing, a Malvan of strict devotion that would, if the fires found his standards true, would be metamorphosed into a Firewing and become the absolute ruler of Malva. But if his view was wrong and his heart was black then the fires would consume him and erase every piece of him, his values, and his convictions to ashes. Lexinder Todd stepped forward and spoke on Thane's behalf, urging the Prime Administrator to allow Thane to be judged by the fires. For the first time in their lives the brothers came to an agreement. The nation watched with held breath as Thane was unchained. Emotionals prayed to all of their five deities to prove Thane true. The Logicals made calculations and formulae that would prove Thane would only be incinerated. The result would determine the fate of the world. Would the Emotionals become the lords and masters of Malva or would the Logicals retain their strong grip on the government? All eyes watched as with his back straight and with his jaw set and with one final look of hatred to his sibling Thane Todd walked into the Judgment Fires, A firewing was born. Following the tradition and their promise the Logicals surrendered all political and economic control of Malva to the new Prime Administer Firewing and Malva burned. Thousands upon thousands of dissenting Logicals were executed, as were their families. The once beautiful world of Malva was reduced to desert and death pits. Firewing chose not to send Lexinder to his death but chose him, along with five other esteemed Logicals, and banished them from the world. And then, in the ultimate act of betrayal, Firewing destroyed Malva itself. Malvans on Earth The six exiled Malvans: Paragon, Yoko, Hermitius, and three that have not yet been named, arrived on Earth in March of 1956 just outside of Millennium City. Before the Earth authorities could respond five of the Malvans promptly made themselves scarce, leaving Lexinder to be the only one there when human military forces arrived. Today, most schools teach that Lexinder was the last of his kind, welcomed with open arms and became a beloved ambassador and spokesman overnight but this is, in fact, a distortion of the facts. For the first decade of his career Paragon was the subject of immense controversy. The world was divided. Some realized that Lexinder's actions were brave and noble. Some believed that he had come to take control of the world. Other felt that, since the Malvans were the very first alien species to ever make their presence on Earth openly known, that worldwide religious views were wrong. History likes to covert it up now but Lexinder's arrival heralded furious Senate and Congressional debates, religious riots around the world, and demands of the Malvan to be kept under the strictest lock and key. These debates did not subside even after Lexinder discovered his abilities under our yellow sun and began using them to fight crime and aid humanity where he could. In fact, such controvery might well be still going on in today's millieu had not Firewing himself arrived on Earth on Februrary 14, 1969. Unaware that Lexinder was on Earth Firewing, his own already substantial powers enhanced by exposure to the yellow sun, demanded the total surrender of Earth. The militaries of the world banded together to fight the menace of Firewing, to no avail. But just when all hope was lost, a champion rose. Lexinder and Firewing battled for 28 consecutive days, in major cities all over the world, until--aided by countless superheroes from around the globe--Lexinder drove his brother off of Earth. After that monumental battle, then President of the United States L. B. Johnson addressed congress and the Nation, declaring Lexinder Todd to be a "great friend of humanity and a paragon of virtue." Since that historic day Paragon has become more than just a superhero. He has become Paradigm City's flagship hero, a Statesman, and an icon for lovers of truth, freedom, and nobility across not just the globe but the galaxy. Paragon's name is as well known as Mickey Mouse, Dr. Who, and Elvis Preseley. He was the hero that other heroes aspiried to be, and married Melissa Cartwright, a reporter whom went on to become the current Governor of California. Like hundreds of other heroes, villains, and extremely powerful meta-humans Paragon vanished during the horrible Extant Event, and was the only hero to leave any kind of clue as to what happened by hastily scrawling the word 'Extant" on one of the walls in the Defender's League headquarters. Personality/Motivation In public, Paragon presented himself as a dour, almost humorless man with an unshakable moral foundation and no room to be frivolous. His distractors always said of him that he had the personality of a boiled potato. He treated everybody with the respect owed to them but always had an air of keeping everyone at arm's length. His emotions were always tightly controlled. In private, however, Lexinder could be quite jocular; with a dry wit and easy smile that helped put his friends at ease and made everyone he came into contact with comfortable. He had a very deep rooted soft-spot for children, and made every day an opportunity to do good for children in need whether that be by spearheading campaigns to feed hungry children in the Sudan or to visit terminally ill children in Paradigm City. Paragon was a hero in the truest sense of the world. He might bend the law now and again but he never broke it. He refies to be intentionally dishonest and he always kept is word of honor. He never turned away anyone in need, whether that need was to be rescued from a burning building or 12 seconds of human contact. He was, truly, a man deserving of the word hero and there is a reason why Paragon's statue stands 12 feet high in the Heroes Unlimited headquarters plaza. Quote "Isn't it a little late for you to be out on a school night, son?" Powers/Tactics Sharing the trait with all earthbound Malvans, Paragon's powers came from solar radiation. His cells were able to store uncalcuable joules, which then manifested in a continuois microscoping force screen around his entire body that was invisible to the naked eye. This screen protected him from virtually all manner of damage, it was even speculated that he could survive a direct nuclear strike but this really unlikely. Paragon would still feel pain from being assaulted, but he would suffer no lasting harm. Paragon's strength operated at ultra-human levels, he could lift and carry in excess of 100 tons. His energy screen also rendered him unassailable by friction, which allowed him to run at speeds of up to nearly 800 miles per hour. Through an unknown means of propulsion he was able to fly at up to speeds of Mach 6. In outer space he could acheive faster than light flight speeds. Paragon was immune to most natural extremes in temperature thanks, once more, to his sun screen. He could survive in the arctic or dive into a pool of lava without any harm to himself and survive the intense cold of outer space or the insane pressures at the bottom of the ocean though he would still require air to breathe. His alien physiology rendered him immune to all terrestrial forms of disease and slowed his aging process to one/tenth of normal. Through an unknown process Paragon was able to agitate the air molecules in front of his eyes in order to produce what is referred to as 'heat vision', a blast of continuous energy that was hot enough to punch holes through ten inch thick reinforced steel doors and melt most soft metals.Equally--and like all Malvans--Paragon was able to preceive x-rays, thereby enabling him to see through all substances save lead, which x-rays cannot penetrate. Appearance Paragon stood six feet, six inches tall and weighed 300 pounds. He was indistinguishable from normal humans. He had black hair and deep blue eyes. He normally dressed in conservative suits and ties but when called into action he wore a tight fitting black bosdysuit with white trime and a white cape. On his chest was a large white shield that looked like a stylzied S but was actually the Malvan word 'samdak' which means Hope.